Silent Love
by Kiarados
Summary: What does it feel like when you love someone, but you know you can't get close to them? And the reason you can't get close to them, is because they're with someone who makes them happy, and vice versa. Can Alexia ever truely keep her feelings hidden?
1. Chapter 1

This Will Make Sense Later,  
But something to keep in Mind:

~…~ = Taps/Morse Code  
*...* = sign language  
"..." = Speech  
"/.../" = Mouthed  
_Italicized_ = Thoughts

* * *

~*~ Silent Love ~*~  
**Chapter 1: Escaping To... Wait, I'm getting Ahead Of Myself**

What does it feel like when you love someone, but you know you can't get close to them? And the reason you can't get close to them, is because they're with someone who makes them happy, and vice versa. I want her to be happy. They are perfect for each other, and yet I can't help feel this way. But I'm getting ahead of myself. So how did all this start? Well it wasn't that long after my parents died...

~*~

I carried a food tray with some soup and orange juice on it to my sister's room. Hopefully she isn't too sneezy, I wouldn't want to get sick too. I opened the door quietly and despite her headache, she sat up.

"Oo's there?" she greeted me with a stuffy nose. This is my sister, Crystal. Most men in our town like her because they say she's drop dead gorgeous. Obviously they never have seen her when she's sick or wakes up in the morning. Haha, I'm kidding. Even then, she's as lovely as ever.

Crystal is beautiful, just like our mother was once. The only difference between the two was Crystal has dark indigo eyes instead of the rich blue my mother had. They even have that same glossy brown hair that is light enough to look _slightly_ and I mean slightly, like blonde, something, I unfortunately, did not get from my mom's gene pool. I look more like my dad. Out of five kids, I'm about the only one who has most of his genetics -.-; He told me more than once that I look just like his younger sister with different colored eyes and pale skin. I rather have light colored hair. My dark hair makes me look so much paler than I am, it's not even funny. I have my mom's pale skin, and my father's dark hair, not a good combination, I think.

"Relax Crystal, It's only me."

"Oh, Awly, 'aht are you doing 'ere?" Did any of you understand that? I sure didn't at first. It took me a moment to realize she wanted to know why I was there. Heh, a stuffy nose makes you sound so funny. Her white glazed-over pupils looked in my direction, though I knew she couldn't see me.

"I brought you some soup. So where's Ishmael?" I asked her as I placed the tray on the bed board. You know that thing at the end of your bed that's like a table, yeah, that's what I put it on. I'm not sure what it's real purpose is, but I usually use it as a table. Okay, Moving on.

"You did? 'anks. Is'bael? I don't know, 'hy?"

"Because with how sick you are, you're going to burn yourself trying to get the spoon in your mouth."

"'Ey! I'm 27 years ol', I con fee' myself."

"You know you can't use alchemy in your condition." She didn't say anything, and pouted a bit as she lied back down on her pillow. "It's true and you know it," I snickered a bit as she scowled and crossed her arms.

"Just goh find Is'bael, alright," she said.

"Don't worry about it, Crystal. Plus you need to let your soup cool off, I made it too hot again," I laughed nervously. ^.^;; I always over cook the soup and make it too hot. What can I say; soup's only good when you scold your lips.

I stepped outside brushed my hands over a circle carved onto wall, just outside Crystal's bedroom. A rhythmic vibration went through the floor of the house and even through the walls. I repeated it, and then I sat there... Waiting. I waited a maximum of five minutes before I grew impatient, and decided to go look for the 25 year old. Stupid Ishmael. Never comes when you call him. I didn't even walk an inch away when I felt a hot breath on my neck. It gave me the chills and made my hair stand on end.

"Ish!" I screamed, knowing he can't hear me. I don't care; I HATE it when he doesn't that. It's so irritating. "How-many-times-do-I-have-to-tell-you-not-to-do-that?!"

"/I'm sorry,/" he mouthed. "/I can't understand you/" He snickered at me. Stupid older brother, why does he have to be so irritating at times?

"I know very well that you understood me!"

*Sorry, I can't hear you,* he motioned with his hands in sign language.

*Just go help Crystal,* I told him a little frustrated.

*Fine, whatever,* he smirked walking into her room. I sighed.

That's my older brother, Ishmael; I call him Ish for short. He has light brown hair that's a little darker then Crystals, with eyes just like hers, a dark indigo. When we stand next to each other, he stands a good head taller than me. Stupid, Ish, so dang tall. At least Sammy is only a few inches taller than me and looks almost exactly like Ishmael if she spiked her hair like him. Samantha is his twin, and she is currently at a boyfriend's house. I hate her boyfriend; he tries to boss me around like he's my dad or something. Arg.

~*~

I walked to my room and found Leonani there. I was about the only one she will talk to, and so she and I were always with each other. "Lea? Whatcha doing?"

*I can't find my old journal, have you seen it?* she asked with her hands. She had worry on her face as she looked around franticly, but at the same time careful not to destroy my room. This is my sister Leonani. She's the only one with bright violet eyes, from our grandmother on our mother's side mixed with our dad's eyes, and rich black hair that is slightly longer then her shoulders, from our father, but does she look like a ghost? No. She has fair skin, a fine tanned color like she's from a desert town or something. She looks much like our mother only with that black hair and fair skin. She's about three inches or so shorter than me, which is a bit of a surprise, considering I'm younger. She gets angry when anyone confuses me as the older sister. Ha, that's the only thing that she doesn't tolerate, otherwise she's pretty much cordial.

"No I haven't seen it, why?"

*Please tell me if you find it, okay?* she asked me.

"Sure thing," I smiled at her as she walked out, no doubt to search for the journal. The truth of the matter was that I had the little diary; it was the first journal she ever had. Since she can't speak, she's written everything down ever since she learned how to write. I wasn't exactly being nosey... alright I was. In my defense she lets me read some of her other journals from time to time. I'm just trying to figure out something I've been missing. I knew my sister Leonani, very well in fact. We would go visit "friends", or so we say, in far away towns, and other such things just so we could travel. Not to say we didn't have friends in other towns that took a while to get to, I just like to be on the road it's like an adventrue. In fact, this was one of those rare times that we came back home.

~*~

So right about now, you're probably wondering about my family, aren't you? Well let me explain things plainly so that there's no confusion about anything. As you could tell my eldest sister can't see. She's blind. Simple as that. My brother and Sammy, they're both deaf, and my sister Leonani, she's mute. Despite these disabilities, they've made it by just fine. All of us grew up pretty much like normal kids. But compared to my family, I always felt like the odd one out. Not only in appearance, but I was the most "capable" one for lack of a better word.

I remember when I was about five or something like that, I asked my mom: "Why am I different?" because I could see the diffference between me and the rest of my family. I could hear just fine, see better then twenty-twenty vision, and I was the loudest. -.-; Yes, me and my big mouth; how do you like that? But she said I was just perfect, not different at all. My father loved me to death, I was his special child.

But because of how my family was, or rather, is, I grew up with three various things. One: sign language of course. Two: Morse code. And Three: Brail. I even learned to read lips from my brother Ishmael. I know sign language is a given. I had to read it and use it each day of my life to communicate with my brothers and sister. But Morse code and brail are different. I learned these from Crystal. She used Morse code to communicate with Ishmael, whom she has a strong relationship with, when she's sick and can't use her alchemy to see. Because he can't hear it, she taps on his shoulder, or hand, something that allows him to feel her tap or whatever. I don't quite understand it, but you get the idea.

The twins and Crystal, they went to specific schools in Xing, the country my mother grew up in, that helped them with they're disabilities. But Leonani and myself, we went to just a regular public school. I remember, because of what we learned growing up, Lea and I would tap on the desk with our pencils, and give each other answers through Morse code. Shh, don't tell Mrs. Tweetter, it's our little secret. Okay?

So as you can see, we lived a pretty normal life, and get by pretty well. So how surprised do you think I was when some people came and took my older sisters and brother, and put Leonani and me in a foster home. They had no reason to do that. But they did. So Lea and I escaped from the foster home, and went to find some old friends of Crystal's. I'm pretty sure they would help; they were all really good friends and all. But, God, how I hated that one guy, but we need his help the most. Mainly cause he was the highest ranked. They were people of the military,a guy named Roy Mustang and his subordinates.


	2. Chapter 2

This Will Make Sense Later,  
But something to keep in Mind:

~…~ = Taps/Morse Code  
*...* = sign language  
"..." = Speech  
"/.../" = Mouthed  
_Italicized_ = Thoughts

* * *

~*~ Silent Love ~*~  
**Chapter 2: The Show Down... Don't Mess With Me!**

Lea, or Leonani, and I ran for our dear lives down the street as a pack of four old guys chased us. We had arrived in a nearby town from the foster home we escaped from. *I can't believe you would do that,* she yelled at me. Well not exactly yell at me, but you get the basic idea. She was mad. -.- That's just like her. She can keep her pace when running, _while_ scolding me with her hands. Stupid sign language, why does it have to be so complicated.

"I'm... Sorry," I breathed. Curse my lack of breath. I'm not a very good runner. I may have long legs, but Leonani's short legs are faster than mine. She likes to brag about it too. Sigh. "I didn't ex...pect... them to chase... us... and I thought... they were trying... to hurt you..."

"/Idiot/," she shook her head.

"Would you rather... me have left you... with them?!"

*No, but you didn't need to kick that guy in the face! Think things through, Alexia!*

Yep, that's me, Alexia Croswell. Pleased to meet you. I know I forgot to introduce myself properly last time, but that's okay. Now is as good a time as any; now that I'm running away from some sort of perverted gang chasing me and my sister. I think I decribled myself already, but as I said before I'm taller than my older sister and I'm pretty plain at that except my eyes. Without these funny color switchers my siblings and I have so that our eyes don't have red in them, (don't ask, I don't have time to explain right now) I'd have rich magenta colored eyes. Right now they're just black, real out there, right? I like to cover every inch of my body with clothing, sweaters, pants, hats, you name it. Actually I think that's the only reason I have pale skin, besides my mother. I can tan pretty good, but I don't normally show any of my skin. I think that's about it. Oh! I also learned a bit about little martial arts, and practice it. Lea isn't that good at it, she was better at mediating, but that's not surprising.

"/This is getting us no where!/"

"Mouse chase?" I asked.

*Mouse chase,* she agreed.

"Okay, when I say break..." I said slowing down a bit so that I was just one step behind her. "Break!" Leonani ran off in another direction as I stopped and twisted around so that I faced our pursuers. I was glad to have a quick breather, as I waited for them to catch up.

"Well, well," the one who seemed to be a leader sneered. "Did you finally give up girly?"

"Girly?" I repeated with disgust. And why not?! The only one who's _girly_ in my family is Samantha. She's the only one that gets on my nerves. I don't know why, but there's always been something about her that I didn't like. "I'm far from girly," I glared at him. I ran toward him, making him smirk for some odd reason. Perhaps he thought he was going to catch me. But I know that stupid grin disappeared when I skid under him and ended up behind him.

I quickly jumped to my feet before he could recover and ran forward. Now you think I forgot about the other ones. Not a chance! I'm not that slow. I ran forward and the other one in front of the pack, well, I jumped up and used his head as step to jump over the other two, landing on my feet, and then started running again. You see I can jump up really high, I just can't run. It's a curse.

Well they stared at me dumbfounded for about a minute before they chased me. All I could think of was: _Good, Lea's safe_. I tried to lose them, and didn't really look back that often to see if they were following, but each time I did, they were getting closer. I was mostly looking for people in the streets, but not a soul was in those streets. Losing them was going to be hard, and I didn't know the city... erm... town. I was going so fast down one alley way that I nearly missed the sword stand that I passed with its shop keeper.

I didn't hesitate to grab one of the swords, unfortunately that gave one of the guys who had been following the opportunity to nearly catch me. I know I keep calling them guys, but hey, they all look alike to me. I used the sword, while it was in its sheath of course, as a shield to block his hands from coming near me. That wasn't working out too well because he grabbed the sheath, and I had to draw the sword out if I wanted some sort of protection.

I quickly gripped the blade drew a circle from my blood on the sword, transmuting it to a giant hammer type thingy. Well you get the picture. I brought it down on his shoulder, sending him to the ground. Two of the others came, but I had already transmuted the sword back to normal, so doing a roundhouse kick, I knocked the one into the other. Clumsy little oafs don't you think? They were all knocked out, but I whacked them each in the head with the sheath of the sword, just in case.

"Here," I said to the shop keeper, bringing him back his sword. "Sorry I got blood on it."

He looked at me with wide eyes kind of in a state of shock. He was sleeping when I grabbed the sword, so his awakening wasn't too pleasant. ^.^;;

"No, no," he said quickly, once he recovered. "It's okay," he pulled out some sort of first aid kit so I could bandage my now cut hand. I let him dress the wound. I wasn't doing it myself; it hurt terribly. "They've been terrorizing the entire town since they got here," he explained. "Especially the teenage girls. And this town is full of teenagers and kids. The police have been after them, but they couldn't seem to catch them. Somehow they always escaped. So everyone has stayed inside their homes lately. There. That should do it."

"Thanks," I flexed my hand. Gosh, did that hurt. Memo to myself: Never cut hand on a sword.

"I should be the one thanking you, young lady. You're quite skilled."

"Thank you. I appreciate it. You should call the police so they don't get away again," I said, but quickly turned around, just realizing something.

"Did you know there's a state alchemist who supposed to be here to help with this little problem?" The shop keeper asked not knowing I wasn't exactly paying any attention. "It's too bad that we won't need him anymore. Hope he isn't too mad about us wasting his time."

_One, two, three,_ and my eyes grew wide. _Where was the fourth?_ I could help but panic as I looked around. The fourth guy was never following me. He must have gone after Lea. All I could think of at that moment was to go help her.

"Miss!" the shop keeper said loudly. He must have been trying to get my attention. But I ignored him and took off running, in search of Lea. At that point, my only wish was that she was alright.


	3. Chapter 3

This Will Make Sense Later,  
But something to keep in Mind:

~…~ = Taps/Morse Code  
*...* = sign language  
"..." = Speech  
"/.../" = Mouthed  
_Italicized_ = Thoughts

* * *

~*~ Silent Love ~*~  
**Chapter 3: Lost and Found… That Wasn't Smart Alexia**

~*~Leonani's Point of View~*~

I ran down the street taking a few turns, hoping that Alex was alright. She was good at martial arts, and fighting. I on the other hand, couldn't punch a pillow without my hands hurting. -.-' I'm such a weakling. That's why I'm glad I was able to run long ways without getting tired. I stopped to see if anyone was following me, and I was relieved to find no one.

I had begun walking and to search for Alex in the place where we were supposed to meet up if we got separated, when someone roughly grabbed my wrist and spun me around.

"Well hello again," the leader of the gang sneered in my face. I was terrified, and unable to move. "Looks like older sister, isn't here to protect you, but that's okay, I'll take good care of you."

I glared at him, though I was scared out of my wits, as I tried to pull my wrists away. I couldn't scream, I couldn't call for help. All I could do was make strange sounds, that sounded like squeaks, and punch his chest; which had no affect on him by the way. I wanted to say "Let go". I wanted to scream in his face. I hate this feeling; the feeling of uselessness and no control.

He turned my head and held me by the jaw. I tried to jerk my head away to prevent him from kissing me, as he was attempting, but it was useless and I felt his teeth hit mine. I could feel tears roll down my cheeks as I tried with all my strength to push him away. _Not again_, I thought as more tears flowed as I felt his hand on my hip. I don't know where it came from, and at first I didn't know what happened and I was too stun to move, but something out of nowhere came and sent him flying away from me. I fell backwards when I seen a large fist made of packed dirt sticking up out of the ground at an angle. _What in the world?_ I thought. _That couldn't have been Alexia._

I sat there frozen with curiosity, not know what happened. "Why don't you try to get with someone close to your age, pervert," I heard a voice, making me turn my head. I saw a blonde boy with long hair pulled back into a pony-tail and he seemed to be riled up for some reason, really annoyed I guess. He was wearing a red trench coat and was only a little bit taller than me. -.- Go figure. Everyone's taller than me. I watched him, astonished, as he sent the guy flying into a wall with kick. He waited a few minutes, I presume, making sure that the guy didn't get back up, before he walked over to me.

"Are you okay?" he asked me.

Now you may not know me. I'm terrified of... well boys in general. I rather not say why, but I am. My school was an all girl school, so I didn't have to deal with them. I wasn't always like this. But ever since I was about seven years old, I've been afraid of the male species. Except my father, my brother, and those who were friends with Crystal. So when this boy walked over to me I began to tremble; unfortunately he noticed.

"It's okay, he's not going to hurt you now," his light hazel eyes looked at me with concern. "What's your name?"

I wiped my cheeks free of tears with my hand, wanting to respond, but I hadn't a voice to speak. I couldn't say anything, so I tried to tell him with my hands, but that proved to be hard too. He didn't understand sign language, as a lot of people don't; which was the main reason Alexia was always there to translate for me.

"I don't know what that means," the boy gave me a confused look holding his hand out to me as to help me up. I took it, a bit scared, but he smiled as I stood to my feet.

*Thank you,* I motioned, though I knew he didn't understand. He gave me another weird look. I wanted to ask him his name, I wanted to know who he was, but I couldn't. I can't help but feel so hopeless. I hate not being able to communicate. Then it hit me.

I squatted back down to the ground and began to draw letters.

**I can't speak, I'm mute**, is what I wrote.

"Oh, I see, well then I guess that explains why you didn't scream or anything," he assumed. I wondered why he even cared. I didn't understand. What did he want and why? "What now?" he scratched his head, obviously thinking what to do next. "Well, why don't you follow me back to the police station, you'll be safe there," he grabbed my hand gently. I blushed, not really knowing why. "Plus it's not that fa- ugh." I gasped and placed my hands over my mouth as he was punched about ten feet away, flying through the air.

~*~Alexia's Point of View~*~

"Stay away from my sister you creep," I punched the guy that was near my sister. I turned to her who looked like she was terrified. "Are you okay?"

*I'm perfectly fine, but you didn't have to do that, he was just helping me.*

"What? What do you mean? He was-"

"What the hell was that for?!" The guy, who had already recovered, interrupted me and started yelling at me. Seriously, what did I do? Oh yeah, that red cheek might have something to do with it. Heh... "I wasn't doing anything to her, I was helping her."

*It's true. He was taking me to the police station, for my safety.*

"Oh, my bad," I chuckled nervously.

"Yeah, you're bad, you didn't have to go and punch me like that," he roared. Leonani hid behind me. She defended him, but she was afraid of him. She was afraid of all boys. -.-' I'm not entirely sure why, she just was. I think it has something to do with this one 16 year old trying to kiss her and stuff when she was like seven or something. That freak.

This kid had a kind look in his eyes, something I didn't see in a lot of guys. Mostly they were just jerks; but I could see he was different. I'm not sure why, but he immediately stopped yelling and straightened out his trench coat when Leonani hid. "Forget it," he said, his eyes focused behind me. I raised an eyebrow and followed his gaze, which happened to be on my sister. I take back what I said before. He's just like every other guy out there.

*You should apologize,* Lea said out of nowhere.

"What?! What for?" I yelled at her. The guy stared at me not knowing what I was yelling about. Stupid guy. He doesn't know anything about sign language.

*You know exactly what for,* she glared at me. I groaned and crossed my arms. I didn't want to apologize. He was the one who was being a jerk. Why did she have to take his side? She never took the side of any boy before. She always stayed away from them. Why now? I don't get it. Humph.

"Fine. I'm sorry, small-fry, that I punched you and sent you flying."

"Whatever, I don't- Hey wait a minute! Small-fry?! I'M NOT A SMALL!" he growled angrily stomping his feet. Lea covered her ears with her hands. Can he get any louder? Shessh.

"I think you popped my ears," I said, pulling on one.

*Alexia, don't provoke him,* Lea warned. Again, taking his side. She _really _needs to stop that.

"Fine, fine I won't. But we better leave now. We don't want to miss the train," I spoke aloud. *We need to go and get help from Crystal's old boyfriend.*

*They weren't dating,* Leonani glared at me. *Plus, I want to know _his_ name,* she said pointing to the kid. *I couldn't ask him.*

"Why does it matter?"

*It doesn't I just-*

"Then let's go," I didn't want anything to do with that kid. He got on my nerves, and my sister for some reason kept taking his side. I didn't like it.

*Please,* she begged. Well her eyes begged. She looked like she was going to cry, as she held out her bottom lip. God, how I hate it when she gives me that look. I rolled my eyes as I turned slowly around toward the kid, who was now tying up the guy that was in that little group of perverted men.

"Hey kid who's not small," I said in an annoyed voice.

"What?" he glared at me. Heh, looks like we'll become the best of friends.

"What's your name?"

"Why should I tell you?" You know his voice is really starting to get on my nerves. If Lea didn't beg me, I wouldn't still be here.

"It's not me who wants to know, you jerk! Quit holding a grudge, just because you don't like being called a pipsqueak! My sister wants to know your name. I think it has something to do with you helping her."

"Edward Elric," he said, not looking at me but Lea, obviously ignoring the short comment. "Nice to meet you."

"*I'm Leonani Croswell,*" she said, which I translated in sync with her hands. "*Thanks for helping me. I don't know how to repay you.*"

"That was Lea, not me. I'm Alexia," I gave him a sideways glace, still a bit annoyed.

"There's no need, you were in trouble, so I helped," he glared at me, but he spoke kindly to Leonani.

I guess I'm just not that easy to get along with. I think it's just anyone, well mostly guys, who try to get close to my sisters; I tend to not get along with. I.E.) Samantha's boyfriend. He was one guy that I wanted to kick where the sun don't shine, just because he was... well because he was there. I didn't like him. Not one bit. This kid seemed to be different though. I don't understand it.

"Alright, Leonani, let's go," I pulled grabbed her hand and pulled her through the streets to the train station. Hopefully we won't have to meet that stupid boy again. Edward Elric... Now why did that sound so familiar? I didn't get to think about it very long, because I ran into some guy in a suit of armor. Now who in the hel- World would wear a suit of armor in a desert town? Seriously. It didn't make any sense. -.- Today was just not my day.


	4. Chapter 4

This Will Make Sense Later,  
But something to keep in Mind:

~…~ = Taps/Morse Code  
*...* = sign language  
"..." = Speech  
"/.../" = Mouthed  
_Italicized_ = Thoughts

* * *

~*~ Silent Love ~*~  
**Chapter 4: Oh Great... This Couldn't End Well**

~*~*~ ~*~ With Ed. Third Person ~*~*~ ~*~

Ed sighed as the two girls ran off. They were something else, that's for sure. And that girl Alexia was a bit annoying, but hey, it wasn't anything new. _Everyone_ made fun of his height. So he wasn't going to worry about it right now. At least he wouldn't have to see her again. Though secretly he hoped he would. They kind of reminded him of him and his brother. Who was late by the way.

"Where is he?" Ed grumbled; a bit agitated that Mustang had sent them to some desert town. The State and desert towns didn't quite mix. Something usually went wrong. But this one was ruled under the State. It had been for quite some time now.

"Ed!" Al caught his attention. "The Military Police already arrested three of the guys. A merchant said some girl stopped them. She had knocked them out and ran off. There's supposed to be another one of them left."

"Is that him?" Ed pointed to the guy he knocked out earlier.

"Hey! That's him, how did you find him?" Al asked a bit surprised.

"Never mind that," Ed said waving the subject. "Let's just take him to the MPs and get out of here."

* * *

~*~*~ ~*~Alexia's point of view ~*~*~ ~*~

"What do you mean we can't have a ticket?!" I yelled at the top of my lungs. I felt Leonani grabbing my shoulders trying to pull me back before I pounced on the ticket guy. She soon gave up, as I heard her sigh and walked off, I assume, to sit on the bench to wait for me. We had been there for nearly 30 minutes, waiting in line, and now this guy still wasn't giving me the tickets that I needed. I'm telling you, life sucks.

"I told you already, you don't have enough money," he repeated.

"Yeah but only by a few cents," I argued. "It is extremely important that we go to the East City. We need to meet someone there." A few someone's actually, but he doesn't need to know that.

"I'm sorry miss, no can do. Even if it's just a few cents off. You cannot go to the East City if you do not have the right amount of money for the ticket."

"You know what I'm going to give you to the-"

"Give her the tickets, and make them Second Class," a voice interrupted me. It sounded kind of annoyed. _Now why would that guy come here?_ I thought knowing it was that Edward Elric person.

"And why would I do that?" the ticket person raised an eyebrow.

I too, raised my eyebrow at him. Who did that kid think he was? I was having a hard time getting third class seats, and he was going to raise the price? I turned around and seen him holding up a silver pocket watch with the symbol of King Bradley. That's when a light inside my head clicked. This kid wasn't just any one; he was the youngest State Alchemist ever.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know they were with you," the ticket guy registered the tickets. "Here you go miss," he held the tickets out to me.

"Thanks, ever so much," I saluted them both with the tickets before I walked over to find my sister with that freak who was in the suit of armor. What did he want?

*Did you get the tickets?* Lea asked.

"Sure did, and that pipsqueak paid for them. He's so kind," my voice dripped with sarcasm.

*Don't make fun of him. I asked him to buy them.*

"Don't say pipsqueak," I heard him grumble. "I'll take them back."

"Brother, don't be rude," the suit of armor said. Now he sounded kind, and less of a grouch then the short blonde kid. "That would just be a waste."

"I'm sorry about earlier, I was kind of in a hurry to get here," I apologized to the armor. "A lot of good it did me, huh?"

"Well we're leaving. See you," Edward turned around, walking toward the train. "Come Al, let's go find a seat."

"Coming brother," the armor followed him. "Good-bye."

"Yeah, bye," I waved. "And good riddance."

*Let's go with them, Alex.*

"What for? The blonde doesn't even like me, I annoy him." Heh, pipsqueak doesn't like me. That just tickles me. Heh. ^.^

*But they're really kind and sweet. Plus they're with the State. They could help us find Roy,* she took off running before I could even protest. She did have a point, so I guess it didn't matter. So when we boarded the train, she set out and looked through the aisles for Edward and the person in the armor named Al.

The Elric brothers... Back when I was about eleven, they interested me. I couldn't believe that at such a young age, they would be traveling, and even more, Edward would be able to become a State Alchemist. It was such a feat that I wanted to accomplish one day too, but I had family to take care of. I didn't know what happened to his family, but something had to have happen. Why else would he and his brother travel the country and join the State?

I was brought out of my thoughts when the train started, nearly knocking off balance. Curse my long legs, they make me so clumsy. -.- Well I quickly found a seat and sat down, while Lea on the other hand had decided she wanted to continue to look for the Elrics. I merely shook my head and forced her to sit down in the seat across from me.

*We have to find them,* she began to protest.

"They're going to East city, aren't they? We'll just look for them there. I don't like them, well the short one anyway, so I don't want to waste my time looking for them."

She crossed her arms and pouted. Well I don't care; she can pout if she wants to. Most of the arguments we have, I win. I'm like that. ^.^ I turned my attention out the window, thinking of the journal, I've yet to read. We left the orphanage, well the foster home, so soon, I didn't have time to read it.

I couldn't seem to keep my eyes open. This is why I hated train rides; they always make me fall asleep. I probably would have stayed asleep, if the train hadn't stopped suddenly, causing me to fall face forward into the seat across from me.

I heard Lea giggling. That was the only time you heard her. When she was either crying or laughing. I sent her a glare, but my face expression changed when I seen two people walking on to the train. They we're two people I had hoped to never see again, let alone on the train. One was Sammy's boyfriend, and the other was a lady from the orphanage. Oh joy. -.-; Could this day get any worse?


	5. Chapter 5

This Will Make Sense Later,  
But something to keep in Mind:

~…~ = Taps/Morse Code  
*...* = sign language  
"..." = Speech  
"/.../" = Mouthed  
_Italicized_ = Thoughts

* * *

~*~ Silent Love ~*~  
**Chapter 5: The Not So Grand Escape Plan: Run!**

"We're experiencing technical difficulties," the conductors' voice said over the speakers. "Please sit tight as we try to get the train running again." I kind of ignored him as I looked for a possible escape. Crap. There was none. How could this day possibly get_** any**_ worse? There was one thing that I knew for sure: We couldn't let them see us.

"Alright everyone," the crazy orphanage lady said. She sounded calm with that long wavy black hair of hers, covering part of one of her eyes. But why was she with Sammy's boyfriend? What were they doing here? "We're looking for two girls. Both have black hair. One has pale skin and the other tanned. Here's a picture of them," she showed off a photograph of us. Oh great. Hopefully no one rats us out.

"Oh I seen them, they were in the back I think," I smacked my forehead. Great. Just what we need. *Time to go,* I told Lea, grabbing her hand and dragged her to the next car.

"Wait there girl!"

Ha! As if I'd listen to him. And I know I've said this before, I'll say it again. I _hate_ Sammy's boyfriend. I shut the door quickly behind Lea, and quickly as I could I drew a circle and melted the metal so that the door couldn't open. That should hold him for a while... I hope. Where was that shrimp of a State Alchemist when you need him. (-.O)

We ran into the next car, with me looking around, seeing if we could hide anyway where. -.- What's the surprise that I didn't find any. I don't know how they stopped the train, or if they even stopped it in the first place, and I don't know how they found us, but I couldn't let them get us. I wasn't going to let Crystal stay in some home for the disabled for the rest of her life... If that's where she even was, I didn't know where she and the twins were even there still.

How far were we from East City? Was it close? Could we run the rest of the way? This is so annoying; I don't know what to do. Well my breakdown was cut short when Lea hit me in the back of the head.

*Calm down,* is what she told me.

"Don't you tell me to calm down! We're in a crisis here!"

*We'll figure something out, Alex, calm down. You can't think if you're worried as you are.*

"You're right," I agreed. We hid in the next car, as I tried to concoct a plan. "How about if we try to run the rest of the way?"

*I don't know, Alex. I know I could make it, but are you sure you will be okay?*

"I'll be fine. I shouldn't be too far ahead. The next town was just a half a day's train ride away. Did we pass it?"

*No, it should be up ahead. But how are we going to make it to East City? We don't have the money to get another pair of train tickets.*

"We'll figure something out."

"Ah-ha!" A voice exclaimed pulling me up by my collar. "We finally found you." -.- Great! This wasn't good, and I don't know how I could get out of here.

"Let go of me Arnold! I don't know why you're here but you don't need to put your hands on me!"

"Shut up! You shouldn't have run away from the foster home," he glared at me. His violet eyes narrowed at me. That's funny; I don't remember him having purple eyes. Actually, I don't know anyone other than my siblings and I having purplish colored eyes. In fact, his eyes were a black the last time I checked. I ignored my confused thoughts and tried to punch him, but he blocked it and then grabbed my wrist, twisting my hand behind me.

"Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow, let go that hurts." Memo to myself: Rip this guy's throat out later on, just to put him through misery.

"This is just to make sure you don't run away again, you're going- gah!" He let go of my arm and fell backwards. I looked at Lea and smirked when I seen a couple of rocks in her hand. She may not be able to throw a strong punch, but she sure was good with long range fighting. Her curve ball was awesome; could knock anyone out cold for at least a day. I have no clue where she gets the strength to through a small rock hard enough to do that and not be able to punch. -.- I think it had something to do with knowing where to throw and what spots on the head to hit.

"Thanks, Lea, let's go, before he wakes up again," I said opening a window and jumping out. I landed on my feet. It wasn't that high up. I waited for Lea to do the same, and she would have, if the train hadn't started back up. What the hell! Why isn't anything going right today?! She wobbled on to the sill as the train started back up slowly. "Come on, Lea, just jump, I'll catch you!" She looked frightened and closed her eyes as she jumped over and onto the ground. Well I didn't catch her, but she landed on me.

So I won't bore you with the details, but we walked the rest of the way to the next town. I knew without a doubt that the two bothersome pursuers were going to be there. Oh joy. And what's worse, I didn't know how we were going to get on another train to East City. I doubt the Elrics would be there to help us again, and frankly, I didn't think the pipsqueak wanted to help us. But all the same we made it on to a train. Let's just say I made a quite _forceful_ argument with some guy who was hitting on us. Muhahaha!

Ahem, well Anyway, once we got on the train, we hid in the cargo hold. I pretty much sleep the entire way, which was three long days. -.- We had only a bit of water left in the canteen, so we needed to find help, and we needed to find help soon. Just what I need, more stress.

~*~

"Finally!" I said jumping off the train once we reached East City. "Now we need to go see that stupid Major."

*He was nice,* Lea defended. She always defended him. (-.0) So annoying.

"He left! And he never returned any calls or letters to Crystal, making her cry all the time!" I exploded.

*He did not leave! He went to war! And Crystal didn't not cry all the time,* she was glaring at me. *That's just the way you see it.*

"That's because I see the truth. Let's just go," I muttered angrily. And you know what? What happened then? I nearly blew my top once we found the Head Quarters. Why? They wouldn't let us in God dang it! Once I find out who has my voodoo doll, I'll first beat them to a bloody pulp, and then figure out how to get rid of the doll without killing myself. One thing was for sure. I can't control my temper. ^.^;; Heh...


	6. Chapter 6

This Will Make Sense Later,  
But something to keep in Mind:

~…~ = Taps/Morse Code  
*...* = sign language  
"..." = Speech  
"/.../" = Mouthed  
_Italicized_ = Thoughts

* * *

~*~ Silent Love ~*~  
**Chapter 6: Bright Eyes and Major Pains... Just what I need**

"Just tell Roy Mustang that the Croswells need his help!"

"I'm sorry Miss, but the Lieutenant Colonel is very busy. He does not need a bunch of kids to bother him."

"What about Riza Hawkeye? Maes Hughes? Jean Havoc? Someone? Anyone? Can't we at least speak with one of them?"

"I'm going to have to ask you to leave. You cannot meet with any military personal at present time."

"Why I oughtta," I rolled up my sleeves and was ready to attack the officer, when Lea restrained me.

*Let's just find another way,* she advised.

"Can things get ANY worse!"

*Don't say that, because then they will,* she said as she sat on the steps. I looked around and spotted an officer walking by right in, past the person who had just prevented us from going in. I could already see the light bulb above my head turning on. I'm so smart. ^.^

*Hey, I got an idea. We can dress as officers.*

*How we going to do that? We don't have their uniforms.*

"Can't you just transmute our clothes to look like them? Sammy did teach you how didn't she?"

*She did, but I'm not as good. It wouldn't look like one of theirs, it would look stranger. I can't make exact replicas like she can.*

"Drat. Well, we can _barrow_ some," I smirked.

*You means steal?* she narrowed her eyes a bit.

*Ah, I'll return it, you know I do.*

*We'll get in trouble.*

*Not if Roy actually cares about helping. He's a Major, so we won't get in trouble.*

*Sometimes I wonder if you're a bad influence on me,* Lea sighed as we walked off about a block away and hid. We waited until two officers walked by. I called for help from an alley way and like a couple of good officers, they came. That's when Lea knocked them out with a couple of rocks. I used the stone to tie their hand into the wall with alchemy. How? Well, basically, I made the wall like clay and shoved their hands into it, and then hardened the wall again. Sounds easy, but it's not. Don't try it, you'll get stuck, trust me. We just didn't need them running away and telling everyone that someone stole their uniforms. We'll come back to get them. If I remember that is. Heh, I mean- Of course I'll remember them.

* * *

The uniforms were a bit too big, but we walked in the head quarters with ease. I was a little worry the guy would see through our disguises, but the caps hid our hair and we adverted our gazes. Simple as pie. ^.^ Now for the hard part: finding the Major, just peachy. Well it took us about an hour of walking around to find his feakin' office. I'm surprised no one had found us out yet. It was Lea who overheard Roy talking.

*He's in there,* she pointed to a door.

*Are you sure?*

*Yes, I heard his voice, and I-*

"Great!" I knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" he asked, I could almost hear a smirk in his voice. Yep, that's the Major Pain.

"There are a couple of girls here looking for your help, Sir," I said changing the sound of my voice so that it sounded a bit older.

"How old are they?"

(-.O) Err. Stupid Guy. "They're 14 and 15."

"They're too young. Tell them to go away. I'm busy anyway."

Lea was going to tap on the door, but I stopped her. "What you don't want to help us you stupid Major pain in the butt?!" I yelled angrily, forgetting to disguise my voice. Oh well. I don't really care at the moment.

"What was that?" I heard him rise in his chair. Heh, I wonder if he remembers me. I don't think so. So instead of waiting him to come out and fry me with that stupid alchemy of his, I kicked the door open and walked in.

"Hey there, Major," I saluted him with a peace sign. Can you do that? Here's how, you hold up the number two, and put your fingers together so they touch, then you salute. ^.^ See easy isn't it? Oh yeah, I was supposed to be telling you something else wasn't I. Sorry about that. Curse my short attention span. Oh and speaking of short. You would never guess who was in the room sitting on a couch, or whatever it was. "What are you doing here?!" I pointed angrily at the short blonde who looked even shorter then usually sitting down.

"I was about to ask you the same thing!" he roared back.

"You know these two Fullmetal?"

"We only met them at Merchant's Market, that's it," he scowled, but it was directed at Roy, not me. Heh, he hates Mustang just as much as I do.

"Who are you?" Mustang glared at me. "You're not one of the officers here."

I crossed my arms and turned my nose to the air. I can't believe he doesn't remember me. Then again, it's been almost seven years since we last saw him, or he saw us. I was about to say something when I heard Lea taping, well knocking on the door.

~Please, Major, we need your help,~ she said. I wonder if he remembers Morse code. It wouldn't surprise me if he didn't.

"Crystal?" his voice changed with concern. Wow, he actually remembered, there's something you'd never expect. "Where is she? Where are the Croswells?"

"So you remember us isn't that great," I glared at him.

"Alexia?"

"Yeah, who'd you think we were?"

"What happened to your eyes?"

I blinked once, not fully understanding what he meant at first. Then it clicked. He was there before we, well mainly me cause I was too young when my siblings had start putting those color things in our eyes. They were like a glass contact lens thing that nobody ever wears cause it breaks in their eyes and they go blind. But these weren't made of glass; I don't know what they were. And you didn't have to take them out. My grandparents or someone in our family came up with them. They have transmutation circles where the iris is and almost invisible unless you knew you were looking for it. They activated once you put them in and blinked. It was originally meant to make the blind people in our family see, but they modified it so that it changed the color of our eyes. ANYWAY!!!---

I reached into my eye with one finger, removing the thing, and my right eye showed off a bright magenta.

"Alex?" at this point he rose from his chair. Sure did take him long enough. v.v;; "I don't know why you're here, but you wouldn't come here unless you needed to. So what's wrong?"

"Does that mean you're going to help us?"

"In any way I can," he said standing up straight. I noticed the confused look on Edward's face, it was just too funny. Hah, the little pipsqueak can't keep up. He was staring at my eye with his eyes round as circles. It was actually quite annoying. So I placed the thing back in my eye blinking so that it went back to black.

Anyway, since that was all done and over with, I decided we needed to do something else, such as eat. I was starving. I was about to suggest that too, when I heard Lea squeak and then someone started yelling at me. "There she is! The one who stole our uniforms and ties us to the wall!" I turned around to see that one of three officers grabbed Lea's wrists and held them behind her and another one was coming toward me. It happened so fast, that I didn't have a chance to blink. But boy, was I grateful for him being there. For once, anyway.


	7. Chapter 7

This Will Make Sense Later,  
But something to keep in Mind:

~…~ = Taps/Morse Code  
*...* = sign language  
"..." = Speech  
"/.../" = Mouthed  
_Italicized_ = Thoughts

* * *

~*~ Silent Love ~*~  
**Chapter 7: Things Seem to be Heating up Now**

A HUGE spark like thing, I don't know what to call it flared up in the office between me and the officer that had been advancing toward me. Everyone stared at Mustang, including me, with surprise.

"Let the girl go, and go back to your posts," Mustang said sternly.

"But, Colonel, sir, they-"

"That is an order," his eyes narrowed at the three officers. The one who had Lea let her go and she quickly ran behind me. "Now leave," was Mustang's last order. The officers glared at me before they turned and left, shutting the office door behind them. I turned my head toward Edward, who was standing right next to me. _Whoa, Now when did he move?_ I thought, jumping back a little.

"Is Crystal in any fatal danger?" Mustang asked with concern.

"No, I don't think so. They just came and took her _and_ the twins. The last I knew, they were in our town's nursing home thingy, but I think they were moving them to some place for the disabled or what not. And there are these two people who are trying to get us to go back the foster home that Lea and I were in. You need to help us go get them out. Can you come now?"

"I wish I had the time," he sighed. "But I have to be somewhere today. I have people I have to report to, too. I probably won't be able to leave for at least a week. So in the meantime, you are going to stay with Fullmetal and his brother," he motioned to Edward.

"What?!" the two of us hollered at the same time. How could he do this to us? We're girls; we're not supposed to stay with boys. "Why does/do she/we have to stay with us/him?!" I looked over at Edward, well more like glared at him, and he looked to be doing the same as our words came out at the same time.

"Because you need somewhere to stay until I get some free time. The longest you have to stay is a week, so don't worry," Mustang said simply. "Besides, they can serve as protection for you two."

"But what about Lea, do you think she'll want to stay with a couple of boys? She scared of them, remember?" I protested. "Isn't there any empty dorms or something?"

"If there were, I would put you in them," Mustang sighed. He turned to Lea. "What do you say, kiddo, do you mind staying with them?"

*Not at all,* she responded as she shook her head with a smile. I gawked at her. This was extremely unlike her. And what's more, she was smiling. She NEVER smiles. Well, not often anyway. Did she like this kid? Why? He seemed like a big jerk... Okay, maybe that's just me getting on his nerves... But STILL! (-.O) I didn't like how this whole situation was turning out.

"Leonani says she doesn't want to stay," I said hoping Roy didn't remember sign language. "What about Riza or Maes? Can't they come and help us? Just one of you. Not _you_ specifically. Just an adult."

"They're busy, too, Alex. But you could ask them. So for now, you'll stay with Fullmetal."

"You are so irritable!! We should've just went to go find Maes first, he's more coopertive!!" I was mad. First, he couldn't leave now. Second, he wasn't cooperating. And Third, he was sticking us with this tiny state alchemist. What can he protect?

"Okay then, it's been settled," he was ignoring me completely. "Fullmetal, show them the dorm and where the cafeteria is. They're under your care."

"Whatever," he scowled, which was only for me by the way, as we walked out. Heh, I guess it's good he doesn't like me. ^.^

* * *

"You know this is not what I had in mind," I grumbled as I walked down the hall way next to Edward and Leonani. "Why did he have to put us under your care? You're too short to be a body guard."

"Shut-up! This isn't something that I asked for either!" he roared.

*Please stop fighting you two, it's not going to get us anywhere.*

"This isn't my fault. It's that stupid Mustang's. I guess he thought it would be funny to put us with the shortest State Alchemist."

"DON'T SAY SHORT!"

We aruged like this until we reached the door. He grummbled opening the door. "Al? Hey Al? Are you in here?" Edward poked his head inside before walking in. I walked in and looked around. It looked as if they were never there. It was clean, which was unlike most boys' rooms... well I guess my brother doesn't count as most boys. "He was supposed to wait outside Mustang's office," Edward let out a frustrated sigh.

*He's coming back,* Lea said, or rather told me so that I could tell him.

"How do you know that?" he raised an eyebrow.

"We've lived with a blind person and two deaf people. We learned to feel vibrations throughout the floor. He's near..." I explained only part of it, as I watched the armor walk through the door.

"Hey brother I got you something to eat, I thought you would be-" he stopped when he saw me and Lea. "Oh hello again. I didn't know you two would be here. How did you get in the Headquarters?"

"We're ninja, that's how," I smiled cheesily at the armor. What was his name? Al? I need to ask him cause Mr. Hospitality didn't introduce us yet.

"We have to baby sit them," Edward grumbled.

"You did not just say you had to baby sit us, did you, shrimp?"

*Alex, calm down please.*

"Who you callin' a SHRIMP?!" his voice dripped with anger as he spoke through clenched teeth.

"I don't see anyone else who's so small that they could disappear behind a mushroom," I glared at him.

"Why you?!" I swear I would have fought against him. That is, if Lea hadn't stepped between us.

*Alex,* she pleaded with her eyes. *Don't get into any trouble. Please stop bothering him. Plus, I'm shorter than him, so don't make fun of his height.*

"But sister, that's not fair. He started it!" I pointed at Ed. Him and Al both were looking at me wondering what was going on. They need to stop giving us that look, it's not my fault they don't know what Lea's saying all the time.

*I mean it Alex, behave,* she gave me this stare, and I knew she meant business. One of the few arguments she won against me. Though she was mostly kind, she wouldn't tolerate me causing trouble when we were in need of help.

"Fine whatever," I complained as I plopped myself on one of the beds. That's when I realized... there were only two beds and a couch. Mustang planned this somehow, I know it. All I know was that I was getting a bed, Edward could sleep on the floor for all I care. I was dead tired, and didn't think about it too much. It wasn't long before I fell asleep.


	8. Chapter 8

This Will Make Sense Later,  
But something to keep in Mind:

~…~ = Taps/Morse Code  
*...* = sign language  
"..." = Speech  
"/.../" = Mouthed  
_Italicized_ = Thoughts

* * *

~*~ Silent Love ~*~  
**Chapter 8: The Guessing Game and a... Date? Oh Dear... **

~*~*~ ~*~ Lea's Point of View~*~*~ ~*~

"Hey that's my bed," I heard Edward say as he poked Alex's arm. She waved his arm away and turned in the bed. "She's sleeping, already?"

*She hasn't been able to sleep that well lately,* I tried to tell him but he just raised an eyebrow at me and blinked. He seemed to be thinking of something, for every time he was going to say something, he stopped before he said it.

"This might be a problem," he concluded. "How do you talk to people when they don't understand you?"

*Alexia translates,* I motioned again, but it wasn't any help.

"You might as well be speaking some other language," he spoke what I had been thinking. "Hey Al, do you know if we have a notebook?"

"I don't think we do," the one in armor said. I wonder if he's older or younger. I can't remember which one.

"Leonani, was it?" he asked me. I simply nodded. "Are you hungry?"

I guess all I could do so they know what I'm saying is nod. So that's what I did. I hadn't eaten anything since we left the foster home. And that was nearly four days ago. "I don't think you would want this food," he motioned to the tray that Al brought, obviously from the cafeteria. "So we'll leave if for... her," he pointed at Alex. I giggled, knowing he couldn't remember her name.

*Yes, thank you,* I replied with a smile. He smiled back with his eyebrows knitted together in confusion.

"Okay, Al you coming with?"

"I'll stay here just in case she wakes up."

I was going to tell them that that she was not going to wake up anytime soon, but they won't understand me. So I followed Edward.

We were walking down the streets of East City silently. I was a bit scared because I wasn't used to being out without Alex being there with me. I think it was Crystal who said it once, but Alex and I were practically joined at the hip. So I didn't go out often by myself. I only did that when we were in our home town, but never anywhere else. So I felt a bit nervous. Plus I was with a boy I barely knew.

He kept glancing at me, but I didn't let him know I knew it. I think it was to make sure I was still there because I was so quiet. I didn't even breathe loudly. "Do you have a taste for anything?" he asked.

*Not really,* I replied, then remembering he couldn't understand.

"Hm... We should probably fix this," he scratched the back of his head. "What to do... What to do..." He looked around until he spotted something. "I got an idea, come on," he pulled me to a nearby store. I blushed a bit as he held my hand. I tried to hide my face with my hair so he didn't see it.

Why did he keep on grabbing my hand like I was some sort of kid, I can take care of myself. Then again, he was use to his brother walking around in a hollow hunk of armor. He could hear, and tell that his brother was following him. Maybe it was a way so he could make sure I was still there. Yes, I can tell his brother has no body. You could hear it in his steps. But I'm not going to tell him that I know. I don't think I'm supposed to know. I knew that, but not his name. I have to ask Alexia to ask for me later.

I watched him curiously as he searched through the store for something. _Why are we in a dollar store? I thought we were going to get something to eat..._ I sighed as I waited by the door. He purchased something, but I didn't see what it was because it was thrown right into a paper bag. He fished out whatever was in the bag, and held it out to me. It was a memo pad and a pen. _What's this for?_ I wondered taking it from him.

He must have noticed my confused look. "So I could know what you're trying to say, instead of guessing," he said a bit nervously. I think he was a bit worried on how I would react. I can't be sure though, he might be just nervous in general; I don't think he's been out with someone he didn't know before either. So I gave him a smile making him relax. "Alright, now that that's settled, let's go get something to eat, I'm starved."

*Thank you,* I said but he just smiled confusedly. I'll tell him what it means later, I guess.

* * *

The restaurant we were at had a light atmosphere and I began to feel more comfortable around Edward. He was kind and _tired_ to communicate with me. Something people rarely even bothered to do.

"Um... well I guess you could order whatever you want," he said as the waitress handed us menus. By the look on her face, which was saying: "Oh how cute", I knew she thought we were out on date. I blushed, realizing that it indeed looked like we were. It made me feel uncomfortable. Unfortunately, Edward noticed. "Are you feeling okay?" Obviously he hadn't realized what I had. I shook my head furiously as my cheeks burned, trying to wave his concern away. "You look like you have a fever, or something."

_Just what I need, him to worry about my health. Why was he so nice to me anyway_? My cheeks only grew redder when he removed his glove off his left hand and felt my forehead. This kid was so strange. I guess he wasn't used to company other than his brother. Then again, I didn't usually have any other company then my sister. I scribbled on the memo pad he had given me. _**I'm fine, honest. **_I wrote and motioned the words with my hands. I guess it's just a habit I won't ever be able to quit. So even though I had the memo pad, I still spoke with my hands.

"Well if you say so," he replied after reading it, looking a bit unsure. Things after that went by pretty normal. And I was finally beginning to relax again. I had ordered, well Edward had ordered it for me, pasta; spaghetti to be exact, and French fries. Hemhm. ^.^ And he had got a hamburger.

* * *

((Me The writer has something to say because she like to talk to her lovely readers: _Hemhm_ is kind of Leonani giggling. xD Just to so you know. Alrighty, now on with the story!! ^.^))

* * *

I had finished off my French fries, barely eating any of the pasta, when I noticed that Edward still had French fries on his plate. I pointed behind him, seeing if he would look, and he fell for it. Ha! How gullible. Once he had turned around I stole a... well I took all of the French fries on his plate.

"What is it?" I shook my head. I wonder when he'll notice. "Okay... Hey!" he looked down at his fry-less plate. "You stole my fries," he sounded a bit amused, as I giggled. I don't usually laugh, but if felt so natural around him. Edward was something else. I don't know why, but I felt comfortable around him. Alex would say it was because he saved me, but I think he's just that kind of guy.

It was when we got ice cream did the waitress decide to comment on our little lunch out. "You two look so cute together," she said smiling. Needless to say that my confidence, if you could call it that, vanished, and I blushed deeply. I stole a glace from Edward, seeing that he was blushing too.

"We're not dating. We're just...um... just..." he looked at me, trying to think of a word. I scribbled on the paper. _**Friends?**_ I offered. I guess you could call us that. I mean we're not really acquaintances. And he did save me. But he's not really a body guard as Roy had placed him as. So I guess "friends" was appropriate.

"Yeah, friends," he agreed. The waitress shook her head with a smile, not really buying it. "That was kind of weird," he said once she had walked away. I simply nodded in agreement.

We "talked" over ice cream. Which is to say I was writing and he talked; but it was fun. I told him about Alex when she fell into a puddle one day at school when she was six, and then beat up the boy who had pushed her. Even at six, she was aggressive. He told me that every time he and brother got into a fight, Al would always go wait by the river. I did end up asking his brother's name, Alphonse, but I didn't ask about the hollow armor; I didn't think it was my place to. Anyway, somehow the conversation got to my and Alex's age.

"So Alex calls _you _'sister'... Does that mean she's younger?"

_**Yeah, I'm older**_, I told him glaring at him a bit.

"What I say?" he laughed nervously as he noticed my anger.

_**Just as you don't like to be called short, I don't like to be called the younger sister**_. I crossed my arms and turned my nose to the air. I wasn't really that angry, he already told me that the same thing happens to him all the time.

"I'm sorry," he said quickly. "I was just-" he stopped when I giggled. "Gee thanks for making me feel like a jerk," he said sarcastically as he rolled his eyes, only to make me giggle more. I don't know how long we stayed there, but it was quite awhile because when I finally glanced out the window it was already getting dark.

_**We should leave. Alex is probably worried**_, I told him, knowing she should be up by now. Ed, which he told me to call him; apparently Edward is too formal; glanced outside too.

"I didn't realize it was this late, come on," he motioned. I had had a good day, but it was going to come to a dreadful ending, at least for me, on our way back to the soldier's dorms. It was something I don't think that even Alex could have helped prevent if she were there.


	9. Chapter 9

This Will Make Sense Later,  
But something to keep in Mind:

~…~ = Taps/Morse Code  
*...* = sign language  
"..." = Speech  
"/.../" = Mouthed  
_Italicized_ = Thoughts

* * *

~*~ Silent Love ~*~  
**Chapter 9: Tell Me About Yourself... What Have I gotten Myself Into?**

~*~*~ ~*~ Leonani's Point of View~*~*~ ~*~

It was about eight blocks or so from the military dorms where Alphonse and Edward were staying. We didn't really walk fast, but it got dark pretty quick considering it was the middle of fall. I wished the moon and stars were out, but there was none tonight. The street lights were the only thing that lit the street and those didn't even light them that well. It was more like a pool of light, and then darkness surrounding it, a pool of light, then darkness. I thought this was a city. Why is it so dark at night? Where were the bright lights? I don't know how close we were to the dorms when we just so happened to stumble upon someone. Which is to say, someone I really didn't want to find me, had found us.

"So kid, why are you kidnapping little Lea?" Sam's boyfriend, what was his name? Harold? No it was Arnold; glared at Ed as he spoke. I don't know how he did it, but he seemed to always be around when I didn't want him to. I really didn't care for him, but I didn't hate him. Now I think I should reconsider. "She doesn't like to be around boys. So let her go."

I hid behind Edward, holding on to his coat tightly, and pressed my head against his back. This was an old habit of hiding behind my siblings and parents. "You know this guy?" he whispered to me. I nodded into his back so he could feel it. "Do you want to go with him?" At this I shook my head. "I didn't think so."

"I need to take her back to the foster home where she was, sadly enough she ran away. But she can't live on her own she's not old enough to," I could almost hear the smirk in Arnold's voice. Why was he so persistent on taking us back?

"I don't think it's your choice to decide, I'm sixteen and I've been on my own for five years now," I knew Ed was glaring at him. For some reason he tried so hard to protect me. I couldn't understand why he would, he barely knew me.

"Well then I think I should take you with, kid. There's no reason for you to cause a nuisance to people around here."

"I'm a ranking State Alchemist, I'm allowed to be here," he snapped showing off his silver pocket watch. Even if I had only known him for a little while, I knew he was easily angered like my sister. It's kind of the reason why their personalities clashed. And Arnold, well he was the type of person who knew how to push your buttons.

"You could have easily stolen that," the red-head said dully. "So just give me the girl, so I could take her back, and I'll let you stay here, all willy-nilly."

"Go to hell! She doesn't want to go with you!" Ed snapped at him.

"Are you sure about that?" I peeked from around Ed to see Arnold glaring. He was angry. And it was scary. I've never seen him angry before. It looked, to me, like he was about ready to kill someone.

"Dead sure," Edward clapped his hand and hit the ground, making a wave out of the concrete and knocking Arnold off his feet and into the darkness of the night. "Stay alert, he's still around," I heard Ed say as he scanned the darkness with his eyes. I let go of Ed to do the same; big mistake on my part. I suddenly felt someone pull me into the darkness of the night.

I saw Edward drifting away slowly, and I without a voice, couldn't do anything about it.

* * *

~*~*~ ~*~ Alexia's Point of View~*~*~ ~*~

"Arugh!" I threw myself back down on the bed I had fallen asleep on. My legs lazed over the side of the bed, with my feet flat on the ground. "This is SO annoying! What's taking them so long?!"

"Relax Alexia, it was the middle of the afternoon, and they haven't been out long," Alphonse tried to calm me down. I had been complaining since I got up, which was about an hour ago. When I realized that Lea wasn't there, and that she was with that stupid shrimp, Edward, my anger grew. Poor Alphonse, he didn't need me stressing him out. But what can I say, I was angry.

"They've been out for ten hours! Who eats for ten hours?!" I exaggerated.

"They should be back soon. It's almost dark now," he said nervously. I guess he was trying not to make me angrier then I was. Or at least hoping I didn't get as angry.

I sighed. It was a sigh of frustration and a bit of guilt. I could tell Alphonse was relieved that I wasn't yelling anymore. I bet he gets enough of that from his brother. I'd hate to admit it, but that kid and I are a lot alike. -.-; Not something I'm proud of, mind you. "I'm sorry Alphonse; I guess I'm just a bit on edge..."

"Al."

"What?"

"Call me Al," his voice was kind, and though I couldn't see it, I could tell he was smiling. Which reminds me.

"Hey, Al?"

"Yes?"

"Why is your armor hollow?" I asked hesitantly.

"W-what? It's not-?"

"If you don't want to tell me, then don't. But I know you are. I could feel it in the floor. The vibrations aren't as strong as they would be if someone was in there. I could hear it in your steps. The armor echoes as you walk. After living with two deaf people, a blind person, and a mute, you have to be observant of every one of your senses," I said calmly. "I'm the only one in my family who did not have a disability, so I had to keep my in keen tune so I could help out my brother and sisters."

"..." Al was quiet. I knew he was listening. He was just the kind of person who listens without interrupting you.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to..." I repeated. I rubbed my right eye, it was aching since I put the thing back in. You're supposed to rinse it before you put it back in, otherwise it starts irritating you. But I didn't want the State officers taking any interest in my magenta colored eyes; I didn't trust them to know.

I finally decided to popped it out, 'cause I couldn't take it. I heard Alphonse gasp as his armor clinked together; I think I startled him with my eye. I walked to the tiny bathroom, not bothering to explain, and rinsed it off before I placed it back in my eye. I know Al was just as curious as Edward was when he first seen it, but Edward didn't bring it. Then again, I never gave him the chance too.

I plopped myself on the bed, searching for those stupid eye drop things for when my eyes got dry. _Drat! I think Lea has them_. I let out a frustrated sigh before the room was silent once again.

"Alexia...?" Alphonse voiced in a small whisper.

"It's okay, I don't mind...Ask your question first," I offered. The military knowing about my eyes was one thing, but anyone else was just fine with me. I didn't mind telling people who I knew wouldn't mind. Al was someone I knew didn't mind.

"Well... Are you from Ishbal?"

I expected as much. "No, my father was. He left though. After falling out the beliefs of his people, well I guess they're my people, too, he left; long before the Ishbalan Rebellion. He met my mom somewhere here in Amestris, but she's from Xing. She had the richest dark blue eyes you could have ever seen."

"How do you-"

"Change the color of my eyes? It's something my mother's side came up with. In Xing they focus more on medical alchemy than any other kind. And my mother's family has this thing, where in each generation at least one child of each family is either, deaf, blind, or mute. They created this sort of plastic contact thingy; I don't know what it is. It practically dissolves on your eye though. It has a transmutation circle on it, so that it may give sight to those who are blind. They used that... technology, if you will, to change our eye color."

"What happened that you had to change your eye color?"

"The Ishbal Rebellion," I replied flatly.

"Oh," he seemed to understand. I'm glad, 'cause I didn't really want to explain it any further. There was more to it with the people in the town we used to live in being mainly relatives of the State. They didn't care too much for Ishbalan descendents.

_Where's Lea and that midget brat..._ I wondered as I tried to think of something else to pass the time. Then it hit me. I could read Lea's journal without her being here. I know I shouldn't but I'd never used anything in it against her. Or tell her that I read it. So this was just a little more insight to what she was thinking because she didn't always tell me. Alright, maybe I was just being nosey 'cause I wasn't told everything about that incident with the older boy, but whatever.

In any case, I didn't get to read it. Right when I was about to get the little journal, I felt a familiar vibration reach my feet...erm foot.

"Al, we need to go find them. Now," I said firmly and walked out of the room not waiting for him to follow.


	10. Chapter 10

This Will Make Sense Later,  
But something to keep in Mind:

~…~ = Taps/Morse Code  
*...* = sign language  
"..." = Speech  
"/.../" = Mouthed  
_Italicized_ = Thoughts

~*~ Silent Love ~*~  
**Chapter 10: Misunderstandings, Awkward Positions, and Either Way you're Chop Liver**

~*~*~ ~*~ Leonani's Point of View~*~*~ ~*~

Being mute is horrible! I can't scream, and I can't make a sound, not even a squeak. For some reason sound only comes with I'm laughing. When I cry, they're silent sobs for the most part; all you hear are my sniffles, though Alexia can hear me crying somehow... Don't ask I don't even know. And even though Arnold knows that, his hand covered my mouth preventing me for even trying.

My mind raced to figure out how to get Ed's attention as I was pulled silently away. It was astounding how light on his feet this guy was. We were half a block away when I felt something in my hand. _The memo pad!_ I could still see Edward clearly and within range. _Great. Ready, aim, fire!_ I thought before I threw it, hitting him right on the back of head.

"What the hell! What was-?" he stopped in mid-sentence when he noticed I wasn't there. "Leonani?" He looked around frantically, first around him and then into the darkness. I stepped as hard as I could on Arnold's foot, making him cry out in pain. "Let her go!" Edward was running in our direction.

Arnold picked me up threw me over his shoulder before he took off running. Again, I have to say the strangest part was I couldn't hear his feet hit the ground, they were silent almost. I wasn't going to let him just take me, Alex would be really worried, and I didn't exactly want to go back to the orphanage.

I quickly grabbed my shoe, activated the small transmutation circle on the bottom of it, and threw it so that it landed on its heel. There were two waves that went through the ground once it landed. The first was small and went directly to Alexia's receiving end of the signal. My only hope would be if she were standing on stone or wood, something flat. The second wave was large, and acted more like a shock wave, spreading through the ground. Arnold wobbled while running, not expecting the ground to shake. He nearly dropped me! Do you believe that?!

In any case, he set me on my feet, holding on to my wrists so I couldn't run away, as he steadied himself. The sound of someone running caught our attention. He growled lowly before he pulled me between two buildings. I struggled to get my wrists back, but it was of no use. I could feel Edward's feet running better without my shoe on; I could _see_ where he was through those vibrations going right to the circle on my foot. I stomped the ground sending a signal to him. Maybe it would catch his attention, at least stop or something.

It worked, because he did stopped. I looked out of the gangway and I knew he was close. I took my other shoe off with my foot, and kicked it off against the wall so that it would make a noise. Edward ran to the opening of the gangway. "Let her go!" he called out into the darkness.

"What's it to you kid? Why are you trying so hard?" Arnold said through clenched teeth, he jerked me to the side, holding on to me tightly. "I bet you were put on guard duty, weren't you?"

"Yeah, so if you don't leave her alone, I will have failed."

It made my heart sink to hear him say that, and I stopped struggling for a moment. Was that all I was to him, an assignment? Is that why he protected me? But if that were true, why would he have helped me back at that other town... What was it called...? Merchant's Market? Why would he have saved me there? I didn't understand.

"You're just wasting your time, if that's the case,"

"I'll decide what's a waste of my time and what's not," Edward said angrily. He clapped his hand and much like the last time, he hit the ground. This time Arnold stood position, waiting for the ground to move; but it never did.

Instead, from what I could see, there were mirrors popping up in between the lamp posts, reflecting light into the gangway, making us visible. Using this as a distraction, I quickly ducked, catching my capturer by surprise. The red head wasn't even able to react because Ed's fist made contact with his face. Saved yet again, but the infamous Edward Elric. This was starting to become a habit...

"Let's go," he quickly grabbed my hand and began to drag me down the street. Well not really drag me. I was actually running ahead of him a bit. Not such a good idea, because he was nearly as fast as me; something I'm not exactly used to. About four blocks away from the dorms, our feet somehow got entangled, and we nearly fell. Well, I did fall. -.-' And I tried to prevent myself from falling by grabbing Ed's coat. He had already been knocked off balance and I didn't help any, so he began to fall forward too.

Strangely enough he pulled me into his left arm so that I didn't fall directly on the ground, and used his right arm to null the impact. I couldn't move. I was more embarrassed then anything to move. He was so close to me, and it scared me.

I don't know how long we stayed like that, but once we both snapped out of it, we tried to move away... at the same time. Another big mistake. The quick movement made our heads collide and instead of dropping me, he set me down, so that I lied on the ground. He then held his now free hand to his head as he let out a slight groan. Not that I blame him, I did the same thing. For such a kind person he sure does have a hard head. -.-;

I was the first to recover and when I realized once again, I was underneath him, though he was holding himself up, with a leg on either side of me. I couldn't help but feel an old fear creep in making me feel like I was seven once again.

~*~*~ ~*~ With Ed. Third Person~*~*~ ~*~

Edward held his head cursing the pain that went through it. He forced on eye open to see if Leonani was okay. "What's wrong?" he asked when he seen that the color had drained from her face. She looked more frightened than anything else. "Leonani?" he questioned a little worried. "Are you okay?"

She whimpered and squeezed her eyes shut when he moved his hand to place in on the ground next to her head. "Hey? Lea, what's wrong?" he asked with concern. He couldn't quite understand why he felt the need to protect this girl. But she seemed like someone that needed to be protected. There were so many things he wanted to ask her, but she couldn't exactly answer. He wanted to be able to communicate with her as she did with Alexia.

She slowly opened her eyes, the fear in them fading away slowly as she looked up at him. "Are you okay?" he asked again. She simply nodded, trying not to tremble. "Good, you had me worried there." Ed was about to stand up, when he felt a sudden blow to his stomach knocking the air out of him. He felt another kick just as hard as the first one, sending him a good foot to the right and even made him skid against the ground.

"What the hell..." he said, though it sounded more like a whisper as he tried to regain his breath. He looked up angrily to see Alexia.

"Funny," she said fiercely. "I was going to ask-" Leonani was already to her feet and had covered Alexia's mouth to stop her from continuing.

"What?" she asked impatiently as she removed Lea's hands. Leonani said something to her, but it was in sign language, and even though he was picking it up pretty fast, Ed still couldn't understand it.

_God that girl has a hard kick_, he thought crossly as he held his stomach trying to roll over so he could sit up.

"What do you mean Arnold found you? How did he-?" Lea pinched Alexia's cheeks and gave her an annoyed look as she said something to her. "Fine I will. Now tell me how that one over there got you away from him," she said pointing to Ed.

*Ed... ... ... ... helped... ... fell... ... ... nothing ... ... ... ...* Ed could only catch a few words as Lea "spoke" to Alexia. She had used the same signs after she wrote them down on the memo pad so he could read it.

Alexia sighed. "Alright, as long as he isn't following you anymore. We need to get back to the dorm."

*... ... ... ... Ed ... ... ... ...*

"What about me?" he questioned from his spot on the ground, but both girls ignored him.

"Alright," Alexia said finally with a sigh. She walked over to Ed making him flinch when she held her hand out to him. "I'm not gonna punch you," she smirked holding back a laugh.

"Well I have reason to believe otherwise," he glared back at her taking in deep breaths.

"I'm sorry," she said sincerely. "I jump to conclusions too soon. When you have lived with Lea, as long as I have, you will have to learn to try to assume things because she can't always tell you."

"Yeah, I noticed," Ed sighed allowing Alex to help him up. "Thanks," he said still slightly irritated that she had kicked him as he held his stomach. "What are your shoes made of? Steel?"

"Actually they're just cloth. You felt my power kick," she smiled proudly. "Though it's really tiring after a few kicks like that. But I'm currently working on that."

"Please, no more practicing on me," he whined.

"Don't be such a baby," she rolled her eyes. Ed was going to say something back when he heard a whistle. It was Leonani, with her fingers pulling at her bottom lip. She said something to Alex, but he couldn't catch what it was. "Alright, alright, we're coming, sheesh, Ms. Impatient. If you're in such a hurry then start to walk with Al."

Leonani pointed at her feet, and then motioned something with her hands. "What happened to your shoes?" Alexia waited as Leonani responded. "Well you're going without them now, I'm not going to search for them." Another response. "I'll buy you some tomorrow." Leonani scowled a bit as she moved her hands wildly. "Have Alphonse carry you for all I care, I don't want to go find them."

Though he didn't know, Alexia had seen Ed smile as her older sister puffed out her cheeks and stomped ahead of Alphonse. _She's been acting more like herself lately_, Alexia thought with a smile, as she glanced at Ed who had this look on his face that she couldn't help but laugh at. _I guess the Elrics aren't that bad._

"What are you laughing at?" Ed raised an eyebrow at her.

"It's nothing," she giggled once more, waving it off before she started to walk. "Nothing at all."


End file.
